SUMMIT TWP., MI – Emily Doerr is set to graduate from Jackson Community College this month with her associate’s degree in law enforcement.

She’s going to Michigan State University in the fall, and after that plans to go to law school. But before Thursday, April 11, Doerr, a 2011 Lumen Christi High School graduate, had never been in a courtroom.

The Jackson County District Court’s annual Court to School program, which came to the JCC campus this year, finally gave her the opportunity to do so.

“It was great to see this based on what I want to do in life,” Doerr said. “It’s a little different than going to the courthouse. I think people are a little less nervous coming here.”

That’s one of the reasons the court gets special permission from the state Supreme Court each year to have sessions in local schools, said District Judge Joseph Filip, who presided over the proceedings at JCC.

“People often become attorneys without ever being in a courtroom in their lives,” Filip said. “This gives them that experience.”

“It’s live and unscripted,” Filip said. “Hopefully it gives people some appreciation of the system.”

On the docket at JCC were three persons charged as minors in possession of alcohol. Besides seeing the outcome of their proceedings, the 40 people in the audience, most of whom were students, heard from the parent of a 20-year-old who had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent when he died in a vehicle crash.

Patricia Ames spoke openly about the minor in possession charges her son Kyle had faced before his fatal accident on June 27, 2011 at Thorne and Folks roads in Hanover Township.

“We talked and talked about MIP, and I thought he would do what he promised,” Ames said. “This has shaken Kyle’s family and friends to the core. We don’t go a day without the memory of this.”

Her hope is that students in the audience watched the proceedings and took them to heart,” Ames said.

“Make good choices and don’t do anything that will ruin your future or take your life,” she told students. “Getting one MIP will change your life, no matter what the end consequence is.”

Following the court proceedings, Filip, Assistant Prosecutor Charles Hamlyn and attorney Anthony Raduazo took questions from those in the audience about the proceedings and the justice system.

“I think this is a great program, and I wish more people were here,” Raduazo said. “People need to get involved and learn about the justice system.”